The seamers Morne Morkel and Umesh Yadav bowled a superb final two overs to guide Delhi Daredevils to a thrilling one-run victory over Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League.

Ajinkya Rahane smashed an unbeaten 84 off 63 balls but with two runs needed off the last ball he missed Yadav's delivery as Owais Shah was run out and Rajasthan finished on 151 for three.

Morkel brought the Daredevils back into the hunt when Royals needed 15 off the last 12 balls. He conceded only three runs in the 19th over and also got rid of the danger man Brad Hodge.

The Daredevils made 152 for six, with the captain, Virender Sehwag, scoring his fourth successive half‑century before being dismissed for 63 off 39 balls.

Rahane sliced Yadav over the point boundary for a six in the last over and brought down the target to two off the last ball before missing the last delivery.

The Royals captain, Rahul Dravid (40), and Rahane had all but sealed the game when they put on 99 runs for the opening stand in 70 balls. Hodge also made a quick 22 off 18 deliveries before Morkel, who is now the leading wicket-taker in IPL with 18, bowled a pin-point accurate over.

Earlier, the Daredevils lost their way after Sehwag was brilliantly held in the deep by Ashok Menaria, before Yogesh Nagar (27) and Irfan Pathan scored 20 runs in the seamer Amit Singh's last over of the innings to lift the home team's score.

The Daredevils are on top with 14 points after winning seven of their nine matches. Royals are in fifth place with eight points after winning four and losing five matches.